From the People of the Houses of Earth in the Valley to the Other People Who Were on Earth Before Them.

In the beginning when the word was spoken,
in the beginning when the fire was lighted,
in the beginning when the house was built,
we were among you.
Silent, like a word not spoken,
dark, like a fire not lighted,
formless, like a house not built,
we were among you:
the sold woman,
the enslaved enemy.
We were among you, coming closer,
coming closer to the world.
In your time when all the words were written,
in your time when everything was fuel,
in your time when houses hid the ground,
we were among you.
Quiet, like a word whispered,
dim, like a coal under ashes,
insubstantial, like the idea of a house,
we were among you:
the hungry,
the powerless,
in your world, coming closer,
coming closer to our world.
In the ending when the words were forgotten,
in the ending when the fires burned down,
in the ending when the walls fell down,
we were among you:
the children,
your children,
dying your dying to come closer,
to come into our world, to be born.
We were the sands on your sea-coasts,
the stones of your hearths. You did not know us.
We were the words you had no language for.
O our fathers and mothers!
We were always your children.
From the beginning, from the beginning,
we are your children.